


Phlebotomy for Beginners

by marywhale



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, M/M, Mild Gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25721140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marywhale/pseuds/marywhale
Summary: The first thing Kravitz notices about the person who stumbles into the alley Kravitz is waiting in is that he reeks of garlic—is steeped in it like an old fashioned vampire hunter who thinks some added flavour is going to ward off evil.The second thing Kravitz notices is that he’s dying.Kravitz makes a split-second decision that he may end up regretting. Taako tries to decide whether Kravitz saved his life or ended it.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 65
Kudos: 344





	Phlebotomy for Beginners

The first thing Kravitz notices about the person who stumbles into the alley Kravitz is waiting in is that he reeks of garlic—is steeped in it like an old fashioned vampire hunter who thinks some added flavour is going to ward off evil. The second thing Kravitz notices is that he’s dying.

The person crouches down, his back to the wall, and clutches at his stomach, breathing slowly in and out through his nose. Beneath the stench of garlic and the death Kravitz can tell he’s scared—confused. Kravitz should keep his head down and keep walking. It’s late and he’s hungry. He’s supposed to be back home before the morning. If Kravitz ends up holed up somewhere because dawn is breaking, his Queen will have a lot to say about his bad decisions. There’s no reason for him to stick around and help someone he doesn’t know, who hasn’t noticed Kravitz watching him, and doesn’t seem with it enough to care that he’s not alone in the alley.

Kravitz sighs, taking a moment to mentally apologize to his future self, then steps out of the shadows. “Are you okay?” he asks, even though he already knows the answer. “Do you need me to call someone for you?”

The dying stranger looks up sharply, green eyes unfocused, and takes a step back. “Who— _fuck!_ ” He cuts himself off, hunching over and pressing the back of his hand to his mouth, deep breathing out the window as he pants through his nose and squeezes his eyes shut. 

Kravitz has been alive—for some value of the term—for centuries. He’s a musician, not a doctor, but he’s been around long enough to know when someone’s been fucked over. This—the confusion, the apparent stomach pains, the shortness of breath—all reeks of _some_ kind of poison. He snaps his fingers in front of the stranger’s face. “Can you hear me?” he asks. “What’s your name? I’m going to call an ambulance.”

He focuses on Kravitz’s hand in front of his face, but it looks like it takes an enormous amount of concentration. “T-Taako,” he says, and then he coughs so hard he retches and the hand in front of his mouth fills with blood.

Kravitz hasn’t eaten in days. Usually that’s fine. He’s old and has excellent self-control. Usually mortals don’t suddenly start bleeding in front of him. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem.

Today, he doesn’t stand a chance. The scent of blood is overwhelming and _right there_ —too close to resist—and Kravitz moves before he can think, grabbing Taako’s wrist and pulling the blood soaked hand to his mouth. He licks his palm and bites down into the meat of Taako’s arm, drinking deep.

Taako’s blood tastes foul—bitter and half-dead. Kravitz swallows anyway, eyes slipping shut. He’s supposed to keep a low profile and rely on the blood banks controlled by the Raven Queen for food. He can’t _remember_ the last time he drank directly from a person. The poison, whatever it is, isn’t going to hurt _Kravitz_ , though, so it’s fine. It’s good, despite the taste, because it’s been _so long since he_ —

_Fuck_.

Kravitz pulls back, panicking, and catches Taako as he slumps forward, unconscious and barely breathing. This is _not_ low profile. This is the opposite of low profile. This goes against every rule the Raven Queen has for her nest.

This? Is murder.

Kravitz shakes Taako’s shoulder, like that will help with the poisoning and the blood loss. Kravitz could leave the body here for someone else to find, but the whole reason he was _in_ the city in the first place was to investigate rumours about a couple vampire hunters getting a little too close to his Queen for comfort. Leaving a _drained corpse_ in a dark alley is going to arouse suspicion.

Kravitz closes his eyes, hoping that he’s not about to make a huge mistake. Kravitz has never had a close enough relationship with a mortal to consider turning them, but maybe Taako will remember the poisoning and not the biting and Kravitz will be able to pretend he didn’t just fuck up the worst he has in centuries. He’s lucky he’s the Queen’s favourite child.

“I’m sorry. I’m better than this, most of the time,” Kravitz says, bringing his own wrist to his mouth and nipping the skin there, wincing as he opens up a wound. “This is going to suck for us both.”

Kravitz presses his arm to Taako’s mouth, awkwardly holding him in place and hoping _some_ of the blood from his veins is getting into Taako’s system because if not Kravitz is going to have to clean up a corpse and it’s already been a _really_ long night.

#

Taako wakes up hazy and too hot, lying under soft sheets and burning from the inside out like he’s got the worst fever of his life. Maybe he _does,_ because he distinctly remembers leaving the apartment thinking he’d grab something for his stomach and go back home to wait for Lup and Barry to get back, hoping they’d take him to a doctor because things had _sucked_. He hadn’t wanted whatever was wrong with him to be food poisoning because that means he did this to _himself_ , but the stabbing stomach pain and the way his body rejected any and all food said food poisoning to him.

Really _bad_ food poisoning. 

Taako’d tasted his one-he-made-earlier chicken and thought it tasted _off_ so he hadn’t served it to the audience. Fuck was he glad about that now. Sazed must have fucked up on food safety somehow. Taako’d been _sure_ the dish was fine when he put it in the crockpot to stay warm before his show started.

It doesn’t matter now. Later problem.

Taako blinks dry eyes, trying to focus on the hospital room around him, only it doesn’t actually _look_ like a hospital room. It’s not his bedroom either. Or Barry’s place. He tries to push himself upright so he can get a better look around, but his body protests the movement and Taako lets out an involuntary whimper because _fuck_ he’s thirsty—he’s the most thirsty he’s ever been and his body _aches_ with it, an intense craving for… _something_. Something he can’t name but he knows is close because he can smell it and if he weren’t feeling as weak as he is now, he’d fight to get to it.

The door to the room he’s in opens, briefly, and Taako has to squeeze his eyes shut because the light from the hall outside is so bright it _hurts_.

“You’re awake,” says a low voice he doesn’t recognize. “Good. Taako? I need you to drink this for me, but I want you to try and drink slowly.”

Taako rubs a hand over his face, trying to focus on the man speaking to him. He’s a hazy shape in the dark, swimming in and out of focus. He has a metal thermos in his hand, though, and when he uncaps it the smell of whatever the fuck is in the bottle hits Taako like a freight train.

Taako grabs the thermos and yanks it from the dude’s hands, drinking long and deep, barely tasting what he’s pouring down his throat except to register that it’s thicker and more metallic tasting than he thought it would be.

“ _Careful_ ,” says the guy who gave Taako the drink. “Don’t make yourself sick.”

Taako finishes his drink and lowers the bottle, vision clearing as he looks up at the dude who gave it to him, and then at the room they’re in. It’s an apartment. _Clearly_ an apartment, with a dresser in the corner and photos of strangers on the wall to prove it, but Taako’s never been here before and he doesn’t know the dude who put him in a strange bed and handed him a strange beverage because he’d _for sure_ remember someone that hot and—

Taako feels better after drinking whatever the fuck he just got handed, actually. Miraculously better.

“What,” says Taako, “the _fuck_ is happening here? Did you _drug_ me? Listen, I don’t care how hot you are or how much of the show you’ve watched. This?” He gestures from himself to his captor. “Isn’t going to be a thing. You need to let me go right now. I won’t press charges if you let me call my sister to come pick me up. Scout’s honour.”

The guy tilts his head to the side, assessing. He has long dreads, high cheekbones, and flawless dark skin. He’s wearing a black suit that’s a little rumpled, but still fits him like a glove. He’s not just hot, he’s _stupid_ hot. It’s completely unacceptable. “Show?” he repeats.

Taako frowns. “Nice try. This isn’t your _Sizzle it Up!_ fan fiction, thug. Let me go.”

Hot boy just kind of stares at him for a moment, like he doesn’t get what Taako’s saying. “This is going to be a long night,” hot boy says, after a moment. “Taako, can you tell me what you just drank?”

“Sure,” says Taako. “Can you tell me what your name is? Because you’ve got my handle, but I don’t have yours and I’d kinda like to know who to make the restraining order out to.”

“If I _had_ kidnapped you, do you really think threats would be the best tactic?” the guys asks—not like he’s insinuating anything, just like he’s curious. “I’m Kravitz.”

“I mean, you already kidnapped me—can’t really get more fucked than I am now, Krav,” Taako says, then holds the empty thermos out to him. “Can I get a refill?”

“If you can tell me what you drank.” Kravitz raises his eyebrows. “Step one in explaining why you’re here.”

Taako pulls the bottle back, sniffing it. His mouth still tastes like metal, but like… _good_ metal. Good metal with bright notes lingering after the initial burst of earthiness on his tongue. It was thick—the kind of texture that would normally put Taako off, but somehow it _worked_ in this weird, savoury smoothie that was a lot like something he’d had before. Almost gamey, actually, with how rich it was. Like...

Like...

Taako’s eyes dart up to meet Kravitz’s and now, finally, he registers that in addition to the dark skin and the cheekbones and the definitely custom suit, Kravitz has red eyes.

“Blood,” Taako says, voice faint. “It’s blood.”

Kravitz smiles and Taako gets a glimpse of the fangs lurking behind his soft looking lips. It’s a gentle smile—the kind of smile someone trying to break bad news in the kindest way possible wears. “Taako,” he says. “I know this is a lot to process, but you were dying. I found you in an alley. Do you remember?”

Now that Kravitz mentions it, Taako has vague members of Kravitz trying to speak to him somewhere. Outside. Taako’d been in pain. He hadn’t made it to the drug store for Pepto, had he? He’d gone outside and tried to lean against a wall to rest and—

Taako stares at Kravitz. “Fuck,” he says. “I _died_.”

“Well,” says Kravitz, shifting awkwardly in front of him. “Technically not quite, but… yes, you would have died. I… don’t know how to tell you this, but you didn’t _just_ die, Taako. You were poisoned. Arsenic, I think.”

Taako blinks, remembering the chicken—the chicken that tasted off, that only he and Sazed had access to. “Mother _fucker_ ,” he says, scowling. “That fame hungry asshole _murdered_ me over a regional cooking show? I’m not even syndicated yet. Does that fucker _know_ how little money I make? I run my own fucking social media. I don’t even have an _Audible_ sponsorship yet and _this_ is what he murders me for?” Taako thrusts the thermos in his hand back at Kravitz. “Forget the blood on tap, I’m going to go and return the favour.”

“That’s not—we don’t do that,” Kravitz says hurriedly. “You’re taking the vampire thing very well.”

Taako snorts. “My assistant _poisoned_ me,” he says. “Kind of my priority now. The vampire thing is whatever. I don’t know how _you_ died, but I’m kinda hung up on the _murder_ right now.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” Kravitz agrees, after a beat. “But you’re in no shape to go out on your own yet. We need to talk about this. When you’re first turned you’re—”

“Overly sensitive to things?” The light in the hallway had been hell on his eyes and already all the moving around was starting to make him feel thirsty again. “Hungry?”

Kravitz nods. “Everything is going to feel… _intense_ until you get used to it. You’re going to be very hungry for the next few nights.” He sighs, reaching into his suit jacket and pulling out a phone. “It’s going to be about a week before you can go out. You can talk to your people then and we’ll—.”

“What?” Taako has a _job_. He has a career and his sister and Barry. He has _friends_. “I can’t disappear for a week with no one noticing, my dude. I’m a _public figure_. I have friends and family. This seems really poorly planned.”

Kravitz pauses in writing his order to the blood bank or whatever it is he’s doing on his phone, an obvious moment of hesitation that has Taako narrowing his eyes. Taako might be dead now and his mouth might be aching and his throat parched, but he’s not _stupid_. 

He remembers something else, too—Kravitz in his face, asking him a question—his name?—and then—

Blood, in Taako’s mouth. Kravitz’s mouth on his wrist. Thinking _God, Lup’s gonna kill me_ and—nothing. Darkness.

“Hey Krav?” Taako’s eyes are fixed on Kravitz’s face as he lowers his phone, looking _sheepish_ —like Taako just caught him stealing a cookie. “Are _you_ the one who murdered me?”

“Well,” says Kravitz, “ _technically_ —”

“That’s it,” Taako says, throwing back the sheets and holding out a hand. He wobbles a bit and _god_ he’s hungry—he better get more blood soon or it’s going to start really hurting again. Taako hopes this gets better with time. He hopes he lives to experience it getting better with time. “Give me your phone. I’m gonna call my sister. She’ll come pick me up.”

Kravitz pulls the phone close to his chest. “I can’t do that, Taako. In your state, you’re liable to end up killing her and—”

Taako cuts him off, shaking his head. “I won’t.”

“It’s not a matter of the power of love here, Taako. It’s physiological. You’re going to want to drink the blood of any mortal you come across when you’re hungry.” Kravitz looks solemn as a grave as he explains vampirism to Taako. Taako rolls his eyes.

“My dude,” he says. “My sister and brother-in-law _hunt_ vampires. I think they can handle it.”

Kravitz stops talking immediately. “I—what?”

“They’re hunters,” says Taako. “With stakes? I mean, they don’t _hunt_ as much as they do _study_ , because they’re nerds, but _trust me_ , they can handle it.” He pauses. “Maybe not the blood thing though. Might need a couple bottles for the road to tide me over.”

“Oh my _God_.” Kravitz sits on the edge of the bed, dropping his hands into his head. “The Queen is going to _kill_ me.”

“Good news, handsome,” Taako says, reaching out to pat his shoulder. “You’re already dead.”

#

Kravitz has never turned someone before so he doesn’t know if deep regret is typical or if it’s just him. He has a feeling it’s just him. Most vampires don’t turn someone they’ve never talked to before. They think about it for a while and run the concept by whoever leads their nest. They weigh the pros and cons. They build a meaningful relationship with them. One that will last. Like the Raven Queen and Kravitz. It’s been five centuries and she still puts up with him.

At the very least, they know the person they’re turning’s _last name._

Kravitz gambled on turning a stranger and lost. Badly.

Kravitz needs to take a moment, sitting on the side of the bed in an apartment he booked last minute on Airbnb, to let exactly how badly he fucked up sink in. This is what he gets for trying to save handsome strangers in dark alleys. Taako’s sister is a vampire hunter. Taako is nonplussed by the vampire thing because his sister _kills_ vampires and—

“So do I get my phone call now or what?”

Kravitz looks up from his existential crisis at the man sitting in his rented bed. “You can’t call your sister,” he says, doing his best to sound calm. “If you don’t kill her, she’ll kill _you_.”

“Nah,” says Taako. “They’ll be cool. Don’t worry about it.”

Kravitz has seen other members of his Queen’s retinue turned to ash by a wooden stake through the heart. He highly doubts there’s such a thing as a _cool_ vampire hunter. “She’s going to think I turned you to keep her and her partner at bay,” he says, because that’s what Kravitz would think. “At least give yourself time to get your hunger under control first.”

Taako shakes his head and holds out a hand, palm up, demanding. “You _murdered_ me. The least you can do is give me your phone and let me call my sister. She’s not gonna hurt me. Trust me, my dude. You don’t know Lup.”

Kravitz doesn’t _want_ to know Lup, but he keeps that to himself. “You need to be careful.”

Taako gives him an unimpressed look. Kravitz deserves that. He knows that it’s objectively odd for the person who—technically speaking—killed him, to warn Taako to be careful, but Taako has no idea what Kravitz turning him _means_ —not beyond Taako being a vampire who’s kind of hungry and a bit sensitive to light, anyway. 

Kravitz can feel the pull of the bond he’s inadvertently saddled them with tugging at his chest—the urge to protect Taako at all costs, to ensure he makes it safely through his time as a fledgling vampire. Every instinct in his body is _screaming_ at him to keep Taako away from his sister, but if the phone call will help Taako feel more comfortable, maybe it’ll be okay. 

Besides, Taako doesn’t know where they are, so he can’t exactly give her directions to come pick him up and kill Kravitz. Small favours.

Kravitz unlocks his phone and hands it over.

“Normally I don’t do this kind of thing,” Kravitz says. It sounds like an excuse, even to him—like something someone who _exclusively_ went around turning strangers they met in dark alleys into vampires would say. “If it weren’t for the poison and all the blood, I—” He cuts himself off and grimaces, pushing back the sudden strong urge to find the person who poisoned Taako and tear them apart. _That’s_ going to be an issue. Kravitz hasn’t had to deal with the sudden strong emotions that comes from forming a bond with a fledgling before and he’s never met anyone who turned someone who was also technically a murder victim.

Taako taps at Kravitz’s phone, sitting back against the pillows. “Oh, I’m for _sure_ gonna wreck Sazed’s whole shit.” He glances up at Kravitz. “Apparently I eat people now so don’t even trip—he’s first on the list.”

“We don’t _eat_ people,” Kravitz repeats, pained because he would _also_ like to wreck Sazed’s whole shit. “We try to keep a low profile.” He pauses. “But I’m sure we could… make an exception.”

“I’m not exactly looking for permission,” says Taako, raising the phone to his ear. “Hold up, I’m dialing. Lup’s gonna have questions.”

Kravitz’s hands twitch at his sides. He wants to grab the phone from Taako and crush it into pieces. Taako’s sister, the _vampire hunter_ , is about to learn that someone turned her brother. She’s going to be furious and if she’s as self-righteous as most of the hunters Kravitz has met are, she’ll probably feel honour bound to kill Taako and quote-unquote _save_ him and the thought of anyone hurting Taako makes Kravitz feel—

Kravitz doesn’t need to breathe. He’s old enough that most of the time he doesn’t. After a few hundred years, bodies forget the little ticks of life. 

He still takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly. “I’m going to get you more blood while you talk to her,” he says, getting to his feet. Some time microwaving blood bags in the kitchen and having a drink of his own might calm him down. “Call if you need anything.”

“No offense, Nosferatu, but you _did_ kill me. I think I’m good,” Taako says, and then looks away before he can say anything else when someone on the other end of the phone picks up and says “ _Hello?”_ in a voice that shares Taako’s lilting accent.

Kravitz slips out of the room, deliberately tuning out the conversation. Not because it’s private, but because if he knew what Taako was saying to his vampire hunter sister, Kravitz isn’t sure how effective he’d be at reining in his newfound protective instincts.

When the Queen finds out about this, she’s going to spend hours emphasizing just how bad Kravitz fucked up and then laugh herself sick.

#

Taako waits until the door closes behind Kravitz to start talking. His teeth ache and his skin is still too hot and already he’s _starving,_ so maybe telling Lup where he is really _is_ a bad idea, but Kravitz handed Taako his phone without uninstalling his mapping app so Taako can at least give Lup a building address.

“Hello?” Lup says again. “Taako? Is that you?”

“Hey Lup.” Taako closes his eyes as the weight of _vampire_ and _dead_ really truly hit him. God, he fucked up. Poisoned by his own fucking assisant. His own fucking _chicken_. At least he didn’t feed it to the audience.

“Thank _fuck_ ,” Lup says, with feeling. “We’ve been looking for you for a full twenty-four hours, babe. I came back from Barry’s and you were gone. Sazed said he hadn’t seen you. Where are you? Are you okay?”

Taako lets out a strangled laugh. “Well,” he says, “guess it, uh, depends how you define _okay_. Turns out I didn’t have food poisoning, I just had poison-poisoning. You know, the kind where your assistant puts fuckin’ _arsenic_ in your swap and then watches you eat it even though you usually use the swap for audience samples, and—” Taako cuts himself off, running a hand through his messy hair. “Shit’s fucked.”

“ _What_?” Lup sounds equal parts shocked and furious. “That mother _fucker_. Where are you now? The hospital? I’ll come see you. We’re gonna make sure Sazed rots in jail. I can’t fuckin’ _believe_ —”

“Nope!” says Taako, raising his voice. “Not, uh, not the hospital. So, funny story… funny story I don’t _really_ remember, but there I was, dying in an alleyway, and this guy in a suit, handsome face, cold skin, comes up and—I think I remember him saying he was calling an ambulance, actually?” Taako pauses, staring at the wall. Kravitz definitely did kill him, but maybe it was as unintentional as he claimed. It doesn’t matter. The result was the same. “What I’m saying is I, uh, didn’t technically survive the whole poisoning thing.”

There is a long moment of silence. Taako can picture Lup on the other end of the call, standing in their apartment—or maybe Barry’s—clutching the phone in her hand, trying to process what Taako just told her.

“You’re a vampire,” Lup says, voice faint. “He _turned_ you.”

“Yeah.” Taako leans back against the pillows. He doesn’t really know what else to say. “His name is Kravitz. Ring any bells?”

“Taako, you’re—” Lup swallows audibly, pushing down whatever she was going to say. “Are you safe?”

“I mean, I’m in a strange apartment with a dude who killed me so who the fuck knows,” says Taako, who maybe is having a bit of a delayed reaction to just—all of this. “He’s getting me blood. He gave me blood before? I don’t know where he got the blood from. Fuck.”

“His name’s not familiar. I don’t think he’s on our bad vampires who kill a lot of people list. Taako, are there windows where you are? Can you see any landmarks?”

Lup’s question makes it register for the first time that there _are_ no windows in the room. Maybe Taako’s in some kind of underground vampire bunker, except no—he’s got cell service and also an address off the phone’s GPS. “He gave me his phone to call you,” he says. “I’m at 561 North Curtis Street. It’s an apartment building, I think? I don’t know what unit.”

“He… gave you his phone?” Lup repeats, after a moment. “Just handed it over?”

“I mean, he _did_ kill me,” Taako says. “He owed me a phone call at _least_.”

“Taako, he’s a _vampire_ and he _turned you_. He should be—I don’t know. He should have you with the rest of his nest somewhere. Does he have a nest? Is he on his own?”

“He mentioned a queen,” Taako says, glancing at the closed bedroom door. “Actually I think he said his queen was gonna be pissed at him for turning me.”

“Jesus,” says Lup. There’s a lot of tension in her voice. “Does he seem like—I don’t know. Does he seem like he’s thinking of _finishing_ what Sazed started?”

It’s a fair question. If Kravitz’s boss or mom or _whatever_ queen means is gonna be upset by Taako’s continued existence, then getting _rid_ of Taako would be the obvious decision for a dude who killed and ate people to make. But Kravitz… doesn’t seem like he’s planning on finishing the job. He just seems kind of stressed that he, you know, made a mistake.

“Huh,” says Taako. “I don’t… think so? He could have left me in an alley to turn to ash or whatever, right? This seems like a lot of work.”

“Maybe he knew who you were. That you were my brother.”

Kravitz sure had called _that_ particular line of thinking. “Nah,” says Taako. “He wasn’t too jazzed about finding out you were a hunter. I think… he just fucked up.” Taako’s definitely not finished processing everything that’s going on right now because part of him wants to laugh. He’s _dead_. He got murdered by _two_ people. He definitely shouldn’t be laughing. A high-pitched giggle escapes him anyway. “I think he _really_ fucked up.”

“Taako.”

He clamps down on the laughter. “Sorry. Just. _Shit_ , Lup. I’m _dead_.”

“Undead,” Lup says, a quick, emphatic correction. “You are _not_ dead. Taako, hold on, okay? Barry and I will come get you and we’ll—I don’t know. We’ve both got some blood saved up in Barry’s fridge. We can handle this.”

Blood. _God_ , Taako’s thirsty. He closes his eyes. He wants to make a joke about their what-if-a-vampire-bites-us blood being _gross_ , but mostly a fridge full of blood sounds good right about now. “Yeah,” he says. “Cool. I’m, uh. I’m not going anywhere.”

“We’ll figure this out, T. I promise,” says Lup. “I love you.”

Normally Taako would make a joke. Play off the display of emotion. Instead, he nods, tucking himself a little further under the duvet, despite the itchy heat boiling away under his skin. “I love you too.”

Lup hangs up and Taako is left in the room, alone, waiting for Kravitz. It’s dark, but he can still see clearly and it’s _weird._ It’s weird how now that he’s noticing his senses, he can’t _stop_ picking things up. The sound of something small moving in the walls. A TV somewhere above him, on another floor. The hum of electricity moving through everything, a constant undercurrent of white noise that he can’t tune out. The world is _loud_ and once he starts to focus on it, he can’t stop. He presses his hands to his ears, trying to block it out, but there’s just _so much noise_ and he can’t escape it, can’t stop drowning in the constant, endless cacophony around him, doesn’t know how he ever managed before, how _anyone_ manages because there’s just _so much_ of it and he—

“—aako? Taako, focus on my voice.”

Taako is panting, but his heart isn’t beating fast because he’s _dead_. The voice is there, though, unfamiliar but soothing. Close. Something he _can_ focus on, for some reason. Something he can use to drown out everything else. He latches on to it, the rest of the world slowly falling away as Kravitz murmurs his name and asks for his attention, voice low and even, deliberately calm. When Taako stops feeling like he’s suffocating under all the other sounds around them, he looks up, lowering his hands from his ears.

Kravitz’s handsome face is creased in concern and he’s sitting _way_ too close. “Are you with me?”

“We—we should talk about personal space,” Taako says, voice shakier than he wants it to be. “I have a bubble.”

Kravitz draws back immediately. “Sorry,” he says. “Turning can… take getting used to. Your senses are enhanced. It can be distracting at first. Drink?”

Taako is still _starving_. He nods eagerly and Kravitz hands him another thermos of warm blood. If Taako thought about what he was drinking, he’d probably hate it, but he’s _so hungry._ He can’t imagine saying no to this.

The blood is rich and warm and thick. It practically sings on his tongue—better than the best food he’s ever eaten because it’s _life_. Everything he is, everything he needs—drinking it revives him.

He drains the thermos quickly and wipes off his mouth, handing it back to Kravitz. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” says Kravitz. “Fledgelings need a lot of blood. Are you… okay? Did you speak to your sister?”

There’s a helpful lilt to the question that tells Taako Kravitz is hoping the answer is _no_. 

“We had a chat,” Taako says. “Told her I wasn’t, you know, dead. Since I’d been missing for twenty-four hours and all. We’ll work on the rest of it.”

“So you didn’t tell her you were a vampire?” Kravitz looks relieved. “That was a good choice. I know she’s your sister, but you don’t know if—”

“She wouldn’t hurt me,” says Taako, voice firm. Lup and Barry hunted vampires who _murdered_ people. Vampires who did things like keep a bunch of humans cooped up like mobile juice boxes. Taako wasn’t gonna start a harem of hypnotized blood donors so they weren’t gonna merc him. They were _family_. They were _nerds_. Whenever they got over Taako technically being a murder victim, they’d probably want to start poking him for their research. “I trust her.”

“Of course,” says Kravitz. “I’m sure she wouldn’t _want_ to hurt you, but you never really know what people are capable of until—”

Taako shook his head, glaring at Kravitz. “She _wouldn’t hurt me_. She’s my _sister_. I don’t know what kind of shitty family life vampires have, but Lup and I were all we had for _years_ and that’s not gonna change now just because you fucked up and turned me.”

Kravitz grimaces. Taako can’t tell if it’s because he doesn’t agree or because Taako’s calling him on his mistake. Not that Taako would rather be dead. He’d definitely rather be a vampire. Dead was just _dead_. No chance for retribution or revenge. No _nothing_ but more death. Vampires could do stuff.

Neither option would be his first choice but, you know, _alive_ wasn’t an option anymore.

“There are still some things we should go over,” says Kravitz, after a beat. “I know your sister is a hunter, but there will be things she’s not familiar with about the way we work and we’re going to be holed up here for a while. You… normally would have had some background _before_ being turned, but… well.”

“You fucked up,” Taako says, again, and yep, there’s the regret, broadcast on Kravitz’s face as clear as anything.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I fucked up.”

#

Kravitz is still wrapping his head around how _monumental_ the fuck up is. He knows his Queen will forgive him, but it’s going to take some grovelling.

Taako is surprisingly calm, after his bout of over-sensitization. He’s not making demands and he seems _relaxed_ about the whole sister thing. Maybe he’s still in shock. Kravitz suppresses the twinge of concern he feels about Taako being distressed and forges on ahead. There’s information Taako _needs_ to know for his own safety and for the safety of everyone around them. Kravitz fucked up, but he can do his best to make up for that now.

“You’re freshly turned,” he says. “That means your body is still adjusting to your new state. Your senses will overwhelm you if you concentrate on any one of them for too long. And you’re going to be hungry. Deeply, _unfathomably_ hungry.”

Taako frowns, glancing at the empty thermos. “Where’s the blood coming from? You’re not—you don’t have a dude you’re just _bleeding_ somewhere, do you?”

Kravitz blinks. “No, of _course_ not,” he says. “That would be—even if it _wasn’t_ incredibly unethical, it would be unsustainable. People can only give so much blood at a time without dying and if we just had a collection of dead bodies somewhere it would be a _little_ suspicious, don’t you think?” He shakes his head. “Our nest runs a research center. We take blood donations. Eighty percent of the donations are used for research and the rest… well.”

Taako frowns. “You run a _research center?_ ”

“We’re _very_ established,” says Kravitz. “Our Queen has made good investments.”

“Vampires who run blood drives.” Taako slumps in the bed, running his hands over his face. “Sure, why not?”

“We need to have a consistent source of blood, especially for fledgelings,” Kravitz says, forging on ahead. “In this state, it’s easy for your hunger to overwhelm you. You could end up attacking someone and that would be bad for you and for us and _especially_ for the human you attacked. You don’t have the self-control to moderate yet. That’s something you learn over time, but not until you’re used to the way your body works and that could take weeks.” More likely, months. Maybe years, but Kravitz wasn’t thinking about that right now. He only had the Airbnb for a couple more nights and _that_ should be enough to get Taako weaned enough to get him out of here and to the nest. Actual self-control would come later. Nobody drank from humans anymore anyway. Not unless they wanted to get themselves killed. “We don’t typically let fledgelings outside the nest until they’re fully in control.”

The frown on Taako’s face this time is one of concern. “I could _kill_ people if I’m hungry around them?”

“You _will_ kill people if you’re hungry around them,” Kravitz says, voice firm. “This isn’t a maybe, Taako. The only reason you feel in control right now is because you just ate and because I’m here with you. Fledgelings are vulnerable—and _dangerous_ because of that vulnerability.”

Taako opens his mouth, then closes it, eyes darting towards the door behind Kravitz. “Uh,” he says, pulling his eyes back to Kravitz after a moment of hesitation. “You’re _sure_ about the whole bloodlust thing?”

Kravitz makes a face at the term. “That’s a _bit_ crass, but yes. I’m five-hundred years old. I’ve seen a lot of fledglings, Taako. I’m sure.” If that maybe made it sound like he’d _made_ a fledgeling before, great. Taako not knowing Kravitz was brand new at this too could only work in his favour.

“Well, fuck,” says Taako. “Guess I better tell you that my sister’s on her way over here then, huh?”

Kravitz’s mind goes blank. “What?”

“You’ve got Google Maps on your phone, my dude. I gave her the address.”

Kravitz is having a _really bad_ couple nights. He closes his eyes and takes a deep, unnecessary breath. “Okay,” he says, after a moment. “Okay, I’m going to get you your phone so we can make sure you don’t kill your sister and she doesn’t kill _you_. Then we’ll pick this up again.”

#

Kravitz is outside the building, lurking in the shadows, when Taako’s sister shows up in a beat up, blue Corolla being driven by a white guy with a crossbow strapped to his back and thick glasses on his face. Kravitz knows she’s Taako’s sister because she looks almost exactly like him. She gets out of the car, wearing a red leather jacket and sturdy boots, her hair pulled back into a hard-to-grab bun, with a wooden stake strapped to her thigh.

If Kravitz had a colder heart—if he didn’t have the bond between him and Taako tugging at his heartstrings—he would leave and let whatever happened happen. Either Taako would kill his sister and her friend, or they would—

The thought of someone hurting Taako makes Kravitz want to punch a hole through the apartment building’s brick wall. He restrains himself.

Instead, he raises his hands in a gesture of surrender and steps into the light. “Lup?” he says. “I’m Kravitz. We need to—okay.”

Lup has the stake in her hand almost as soon as he starts talking, glaring at him. “Babe,” she says, speaking to the man in the car. “Little cover here?”

_Babe_ swings his door open and levels his crossbow at Kravitz. “Got it.”

“Okay,” Kravitz repeats, after a beat. “I’m not thrilled to be here either, but I _am_ trying to stop you from being eaten by your brother, so _some_ courtesy would be nice.”

“You turned him,” Lup says, voice flat. “I think we’re past courtesy, don’t you, crypt keeper?”

“Kravitz,” Kravitz repeats. “Your brother is a fledgeling vampire. He’s not going to be able to control himself if two living humans walk into that apartment. He will attack you. No matter how that turns out, nobody’s going to be happy.”

“And I guess you just want us to take your word for it while Taako’s conveniently held captive?” Lup asks, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Kravitz would _love_ to tell her to go see for herself, except even if this wasn’t someone _he_ turned, he’d never do that. He’s dead, but he’s not heartless. “Yes, actually,” he says. “Call Taako if you don’t believe me. He seemed to think calling you while you were on route and telling you not to come would make you even more determined to get here. I don’t have weapons. He’s upstairs. He has his phone. I’m telling you, you can’t go up there unless you want him to try and rip out your throat with his teeth.”

Kravitz doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone as furious as Lup looks now. She’s _livid_ with rage—if her eyes could burn a hole in him, they would. He doesn’t blame her. He killed and turned her brother. Taako had been dying, sure, but Kravitz was the one who actually dealt the final blow and now they’ll never know if the poisoning could have been reversed.

“I’ve got him covered,” says Lup’s partner, calm despite the standoff. “Call Taako.”

Lup takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket. She unlocks it without looking at the screen, only taking her eyes off Kravitz long enough to tap it a couple times and call Taako.

Taako answers right away.

“Lup?”

Kravitz can hear Taako loud and clear, even though Lup has the phone pressed to her ear. _He_ has control over his enhanced senses.

“Hey, T,” says Lup. “We’re down here with your… friend.”

“Yeah, so, uh, change of plans on the whole going home thing,” Taako says. “Turns out I might kill you?”

“We don’t _know_ that.” Lup frowns at Kravitz. “You can’t just trust what he tells you.”

“No, uh.” Taako let’s out a high-pitched, nervous laugh that makes Kravitz want to turn around and go back up to check on him. “I’m _for sure_ hungry in a way that’s, uh, probably not great for you and Barold. This is _not_ as sexy as books make it seem.”

Lup lets out a weak laugh. “Yeah, no kidding. You drink…” She trails off. “Taako, I’m not _leaving_ you here. With him. He _killed_ you.”

Kravitz purses his lips. Quibbling over technicalities probably won’t go over well here.

“I know,” says Taako. “But Lup, I could kill _you_ and that’s—I’m not gonna risk it. _You’re_ not gonna risk it. This is—look, put me on speaker, okay?”

Lup gives Kravitz a suspicious look, but does as Taako asks, holding the phone out between them. “You’re on speaker.”

“Cool, cool,” says Taako. “Hey Barry.”

“Hey, bud,” says the guy apparently named Barry. “You doing okay?”

“Been better.” Taako clears his throat. “So, Lestat over here says I can’t leave for a hot minute and I’m, uh, inclined to believe him, but also he _did_ kill me in an alley and drag me to a strange apartment so, you know, not a _big_ fan. I figure we compromise here. I stay inside until this blood thirsty vampire thing calms down a bit. Kravitz keeps me from painting the town red. You and Barry keep an eye on the building so he doesn’t, I don’t know, abscond with me. Deal?”

Kravitz wishes Taako had run this by him first. “That’s not—”

“Nope,” says Taako, loudly. “You don’t actually have a choice here, thug. You killed me. My sister and Barry hunt vampires. They are, right now, ready to take you down. You agree to this plan or they’re gonna take you out because they’re _professionals_ and you _eat people_.”

“I’m not a _cannibal,_ ” Kravitz protests. It’s for show though. Taako’s right. What other option does he have? He’s going to need his phone back so he can tell the Queen he’s not going to be back for a while. He’s going to have to _make excuses_ to her. “Okay,” he says, after a beat. “That’s reasonable.” Kravitz glances from Lup to Barry. “I don’t suppose the two of you feel like robbing a blood bank in the morning? We’re going to need to keep Taako fed and I’m going to run out of supplies.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Barry says, his aim never wavering. “My fridge is _full_ of blood bags right now. We’re good.”

There’s a pause and then Taako says, “Gross.”

“Barry’s blood fridge is saving your life right now, babe,” says Lup. “Not gross.”

“Still gross,” Taako insists. “I can’t _believe_ that made me hungry.”

Kravitz is in way, way over his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this fic, please leave a comment and a kudos! <3
> 
> This fic is a birthday present to me because at the time of posting it's my birthday and there's a pandemic and sometimes you just want some vampire romance, you know? As a treat.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr, where I'm [@marywhal](https://marywhal.tumblr.com). Come say hello!


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